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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

pander.

A person who furthers the illicit love-affairs of others; a pimp or procurer.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈpændə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpandə/British, Northern-England, Southern, Standard, Wales/ˈpændɚ/[ˈpʰeə̯ndɚ] ~ [ˈpʰɛə̯ndɚ]
  1. A person who furthers the illicit love-affairs of others; a pimp or procurer.

  2. An offer of illicit sex with a third party.

  3. An illicit or illegal offer, usually to tempt.

  4. One who ministers to the evil designs and passions of another.

    broadly
Where this word comes from

From Middle English pandare, from Chaucer’s character Pandare (in Troilus and Criseyde; see also Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida), from Italian Pandaro (found in Boccaccio), from Latin Pandarus (found in Greek mythology), from Ancient Greek Πάνδαρος (Pándaros).

verb/ˈpændə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpandə/British, Northern-England, Southern, Standard, Wales/ˈpændɚ/[ˈpʰeə̯ndɚ] ~ [ˈpʰɛə̯ndɚ]
  1. To tempt with, to appeal or cater to (improper motivations, etc.); to assist in gratification.

    intransitive
    His latest speech panders to the worst instincts of the electorate.
  2. To offer (something or someone) in order to tempt or appeal, especially to base or improper motivations.

    transitive
  3. To offer illicit sex with a third party; to pimp.

    intransitive
  4. To act as a pander for (somebody).

    obsolete · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English pandare, from Chaucer’s character Pandare (in Troilus and Criseyde; see also Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida), from Italian Pandaro (found in Boccaccio), from Latin Pandarus (found in Greek mythology), from Ancient Greek Πάνδαρος (Pándaros).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.